Lucy and Rob were interviewed by Michael Bugard recently for a documentary called "Other Men's Careers". Michael tweeted a couple of pictures of Lucy with husband Rob Tapert at the interview. The release date for the documentary has not been announced yet.

Upbeat Producer Zoe George visited Lucy Lawless on the set of Pleasuredome to talk about art, activism, how it’s tied together in the musical, sexual misconduct in Hollywood, the Hobbit law and what she wants her legacy to be.

Lucy Lawless: Outspoken

Activism is at the Kiwi actor’s core and it makes up a large part of who she is and her career. Environmental issues have been a huge part of her advocacy and so have LGBTQI+ rights.

In the 1980s immersive-theatre experience Pleasuredome, on in Auckland until Christmas, Lawless shows the world what love is like for the LGBTQI community.

Producer Zoe George visited her on the set of the show to talk about how art and activism are tied together in the musical, sexual misconduct in Hollywood, the Hobbit law and what she wants her legacy to be.

Lucy Lawless is used to putting her body on the line as an actor and as an activist.

She was put through her paces in Xena, and took her body to the front line for Greenpeace protesting oil exploration in the Arctic. Now, she’s putting her body on the line for a different cause.

Lawless plays hedonistic diva Sappho. She says the show has an element of activism in it. “This [show] has two gay love stories and audiences have been positive about it,” she says. “It’s not a show about gay people for gay people … it’s for their parents.

“This is what romance looks like in the gay world. It’s not scary, it’s beautiful.”

To tell important stories, whether it’s on stage or 53 meters up on an oil rig, the most important thing for Lawless is to turn up. “You put your body and your time on the line for causes that you believe in because you want to leave the world better off,” she says. “You put your body on the line when you show up for a protest on Queen Street. Showing up is really critical to indicate to the politicians that you are serious about this.

“These days I’m … more of an activist than an artist. Unless I care about something I can’t really excel at it.”

Pleasuredome has received mixed reviews. Lawless doesn’t read them even though she admits that she tried to get out of the project a few times.

Regardless of the critics, Lawless thinks art doesn’t necessarily have to be about anything in particular. “Sometimes the message is beauty … celebration. It doesn’t have to be to service someone’s agenda.”

Lawless has been fortunate to make a living from creating art. She’s now employing other creatives on projects including Pleasuredome. She’s glad to hear the Labour Government is addressing the Hobbit Law.

Proper pay, not just for creatives, is important to Lawless. She proposes a living wage for everyone. “Minimum wage… especially in America is not acceptable. They can’t live off that,” she says. “It’s not respectful… I don’t mind having less so that I have loyal committed happy employees. You have a better work environment… its good for society.”

It’s not only pay that those in the industry have to worry about. It’s only been a few months since stories of sexual misconduct in Hollywood have appeared. It started with Harvey Weinstein. “I never met the man. I never moved in those circles,” Lawless says. “I’m super grateful … I think it means a good cleanout and [it’s] long overdue.”

Change will continue to happen in and out of the industry. But for Lawless, she wants to continue the good fight. She has a clear idea what she wants her legacy to be. “The activism, you want to be part of some good change … but show business, I don’t care.”

This has to be one of the weirdest (and funniest) interviews Lucy has done. Of course it’s from New Zealand and she was there to promote Pleasuredome but talked more about Xena. She was once again asked to do the war cry. The look on her face when the host started to do it had me laughing.

and just because we all love to hear Lucy doing the Xena War Cry…the following video is the one I shot from the 2012 Auckland Concert. I was perched on a fireplace – high above the crowd and Anika Moa managed to get Lucy to do the Xena war cry during her Auckland concert. Very funny banter between them just after they returned for an encore.

Since our last interview with Lucy in May 2010, Lucy has starred
in her best role yet as Lucretia is Spartacus, she has immersed
herself in the role of Greenpeace ambassador and Eco-Warrior; she
passionately believes in conservation and environmental issues such as
Climate Change. In this interview we talk to Lucy about the upcoming final
Xena Convention, her passion for environmental issues and what fans can
expect from Lucretia in Spartacus: Vengeance.

Lucy talks about Xena, what her fans have taught her, working on Spartacus
and her fellow cast mates, her involvement with Greenpeace and why that is
so important to her. Does she has future in politics, childhood memories and
more.

Lucy Lawless, star of Xena Warrior Princess and now Battlestar Galactica
graciously agreed to be interviewed in between working on the Adam Sandler
movie "Bedtime Stories" and preparing for her UK Concert debut in London.

Actress Lucy Lawless joins Kerre and Mark in studio, to discuss her new musical Pleasuredome. Lawless described the show as a Studio 54 theme park for grown-ups. “You get to go back in time to when New York was quite gritty. It was the Reagan era. It was the dawning of the gay cancer – […]

Red Carpet NZ interviewed Lucy, Ashleigh Taylor (Lilith) and Moses Mackay (Otis) at the premiere of Pleasuredome. I think the interviewer is a little excited (and trust me, she has every reason to be because the show is INCREDIBLE. Check out my review here: Pleasuredome Review by MaryD) For more about Lucy’s role as Sappho in […]

Lucy’s in full Sappho mode (love the hair, reminds me of her Disco Lucy hair way back when – see below for those video clips) with James Shaw leader of the Green Party of New Zealand For more about Lucy’s role as Sappho in Pleasuredome Musical head on over to AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Pleasuredome subsite

PLEASUREDOME Interview from the NZ Radio show on The Breeze for 7 August 2017: The incredible Lucy Lawless joined us to chat about her latest project, a musical called ‘Pleasuredome’. The musical is set in a Manhattan streetscape (In Auckland) and is all about reliving a night out from the 1980s. ‘Pleasuredome’ starts on the […]

Lucy Lawless is set to feature in Pleasuredome, an immersive theatre experience opening in Auckland on September 28. The Xena: Warrior Princess star describes the show as “a wild, funkadelic, joyful ride”. Produced by Rob Tapert, husband of Lawless and producer of The Evil Dead, the show is said to be about desire, addiction, greed, and the power of […]